Hero of Darkness

As soon as Kahn revealed his intentions to let his allies gang up on Axel, the latter lost the color on his face. Because Axel himself had experienced their strength by watching them kill off his group members and even facing Jugram in combat who somehow even became someone equally matched in strength against him. 

The Hero of Fire no longer had a smug or confident face as before. 

[Dammit! Will I have to use those three methods? 

No! The first two… I can manage. But the last one will cost me greatly since I'm not even a Peak Saint yet.] thought Axel as he ran a few calculations on the counter moves he could take. 

"Alright, boys… it's time."

"To use the Pendragon Formation."

Kahn's voice reverberated in the surroundings. 

Without waiting for a grand reveal… all the generals and Omega let out a grin and soon, 7 different archaic formations appeared above their bodies, each containing their different colors and auras with their respective owners. 

7 massive pillars rose and formed a net that spread across the 20 kilometers radius of the battlefield. And finally… 5 Dragon heads appeared and formed a Pentagram-shaped barrier around this battlefield. 

[System, scan the newly upgraded Pendragon Formation for me. I need to see what changes Throk made other than what he told me.] commanded Kahn. 

[Scanning complete. 

Pendragon Formation has been upgraded to Legendary Rank. 

Following are the effects : 

All the targets sharing the linking runes through the clothes, armors and weapons will get a buff of additional physical stats by 3 times and magical abilities effectiveness by 2 times. 

At least 5 of the targets should be present for this formation to become active. 

The current range of this formation is only 20 kilometers radius. 

The range shall increase based on the levels and ranks of all the targets. 

The mean average of the levels and ranks for the targets will increase the range and buff effects under this Archaic Formation.

Each user will grant an additional 7.5% increase in all the stats of the users. 

Currently, 7 users are activating the formation, granting a total of 52.5% increase in all of their physical and magical stats.] reported the system. 

[Good. Means they're basically comparable to an intermediate 2nd stage saint even without using any of their boosts and abilities. 

Throk really outdid himself. When all of their levels and ranks rise… this formation will also increase in range and so will their physical stats. 

This is like having the best team battle effect. Only the dragon's body can sustain such tremendous pressure and since all of our armors and weapons are made from it… it provides a long-term help in a group battle.] thought Kahn with a content expression. Because this made his entire group strong enough to face higher-ranked saints easily. 

[Alright, all of you can start. If anyone dies, I'll quickly revive them. Just be careful of him using that…] ordered Kahn. 

There was a reason why Kahn personally didn't participate in activating the Pendragon Formation. 

Because even up until now, he had no clue of the 2 divine abilities Axel had and the most threatening one of them… Axel's Divine Weapon. 

[Hey, old fart. Why isn't he using his Divine weapon?] asked Kahn to Rathnaar. 

[I already told you, kid. Using a Divine Weapon requires your Soul Essence. You should know how important soul essence is. 

The stronger and higher ranked you are, the more restriction on using the soul essence is lifted. Based on his rank, even the current Hero of Fire can use only 30% of his soul essence. 

And anyone below the 5th stage saint using Soul Essence forcefully will cause a great backlash. One might even lose their rank and levels.] replied Rathnaar. 

[What? You didn't tell me about the last part before.] Spoke Kahn. 

[Do you have your divine weapon to use it?] asked Rathnaar. 

[No.] replied Kahn. 

[That makes my point.] said Rathnaar sarcastically. 

Kahn rolled his eyes and then focused on the present moment. Because what Rathnaar explained was something Kahn personally experienced once. 

[In the past, the Heroes I fought didn't use their divine weapons until absolutely necessary. 

You can't use a weapon of mass destruction that can obliterate everything in hundreds of kilometers easily without having to pay a price.] he iterated again. 

Back when Kahn willingly sacrificed 10% of his soul to save Kassandra, Armin extracted that amount of Soul Essence out of his body. 

As a result, Kahn lost 20 levels and his ability to level up for an entire month as repercussions. And he wasn't even a saint back then. With rise in ranks and levels, the aftereffects would be more detrimental to him. 

And if Divine Weapons relied on the summoned Hero/Heroine's soul essence, then it was not a weapon that someone could use without paying a great cost. 

But this condition was also logical in many ways. Otherwise, a chosen Hero with a Divine Weapon would be an unstoppable force even to someone like other higher-leveled Saints and Dragons in this world. 

The world of Vantrea didn't give free access to unimaginable power without following the Law of Equivalent Exchange. 

And this seemed to be the reason why Axel still hadn't used his divine weapon even now because he was afraid of losing his allover battle strength and even risk dropping in a rank. 

[Alright… force him to the corner.] commanded Kahn with a somber expression. 

"On my lead." spoke Omega and he charged at Axel with both of his katanas in hands. 

Clang!! 

Raijin and Kojin clashed against Axel's sword and started pressuring the Hero Of Fire. Both of them were peak 3rd stage saints so Axel had no advantage over here. On top of it, Omega was more skilled than him. 

Sparks flew in the air for a few minutes while a scarlet red and a crimson red aura filled the battlefield within 5 kilometers radius as the two opponents clashed against each other. 

[Now!] he ordered and quickly activated Gravity Domain, enhancing his own strength while limiting Axel's agility and dexterity, just like how he did while facing Azerog. 

His 15 kilometers wide translucent domain had only come into existence, but this wasn't the end. 

BOOM!! 

Jugram also activated Hell Domain from the side and the 5 kilometers radius was filled with Hellfire. 

"Idiots! I am invulnerable to all kinds of fires in this world. What the hell is this hellfire going to do?" mocked Axel as he sent Omega flying using his own strength-enhancing skill. 

"Is that so? Then look above you." snickered Jugram as he pointed his left forefinger above. 

In the air, Oliver was charging Neith Bow and at the same time… dozens of typhoons and windblades surrounded the Hell Domain. 

At this moment, Oliver had also used his Sky Domain, even forcing more physical restrictions on Axel's body and his movement. 

Jugram's Hellfire was just a distraction. The Hell Domain also reduced 50% of the enemy's physical defense. And Axel was a 3rd stage saint so they had to bring him to their level first. 

"Heaven's Wrath!" shouted Oliver. 

"Vajra!" 

Before Axel could even move a muscle, a massive 50 meter lightning bolt shot down from Neith bow's phantom. Oliver was not messing around and planned to obliterate Axel just like how he killed Garakh, the snakekin tank. 

BOOM!! 

5 kilometers of the battlefield was turned into smithereens as Vajra struck Axel while he was completely oppressed under the effect of 3 different domains. 

The others had already moved out of the line of fire and finally, a 100 meter deep pit was revealed to everyone. 

Axel's charred body with a massive hole in his stomach was revealed. 

Shatter!! 

Just then, another one of the white floating formations shattered as the next soul was released. 

Swoosh!! 

Ronin appeared out of his invisibility mode and captured the escaped soul just like before when Kahn killed Axel using the Dimensional Cut. 

"Two down." said Kahn. 

Schwoom! 

Schwoom! 

Crackle! 

The charred body of the Hero of Fire started recovering its vitality as the Soul Eater divine ability provided Axel with another massive supply of life force, reviving and completely healing him on the spot in just a dozen seconds. 

This was a procedure none of them could interfere or attack those incorporeal formations. Thus, they had no choice but to watch and let it run its course. 

"You Motherfuckers! I'll fucking rip you apa…" shouted Axel. 

Slash!! 

Before he could retort and curse everyone properly… the 3 domains were still active and Axel's body stopped moving. 

Omega had used Gravity Imprisonment skills and activated Moonlight Armor while Axel was being revived. And the latter didn't even get to complete his sentence before Omega slashed open Axel in two vertical parts, killing him instantly. 

Another formation shattered and Ronin captured the 3rd soul. As usual, he disappeared using Phase Shift and Invisibility skills, awaiting the next opportunity. 

Venessa, who saw this scene from behind Kahn was flabbergasted and had her eyes wide open. 

She had fought against Axel herself and was perfectly aware of the latter's strength and defense. Because of his invulnerability to all kinds of fires in this world, she couldn't even oppress him in battle. 

Yet the 3rd stage saint, the Hero of Fire of this generation of summoned heroes was getting… 

Absolutely. Brutally. Massacred!!